Tough Times at Low End Mac

It's been a pretty horrible 10 months from an income standpoint. Low End Mac traffic remains good, and we have new content daily, but ad rates - or maybe just the number of ads being sold - have fallen significantly. We've had a lot of really bad months in the past year, but August is shaping up as the worst by far. There simply isn't enough income to cover minimum expenses.

We've added Low End Mac Services as the troubleshooting/consulting/file conversion/etc. side of the business - just need to get the word out there and find clients. We can support clients anywhere in the world by email, in the US by phone, and almost anywhere by mail. Reasonable rates, and we accept credit cards (thanks to PayPal - and you needn't have a PayPal account to use this service).

We've had a handful of clients in our first two weeks, and each has been very happy with the services we've provided. You can learn more in the Low End Mac Services Blog.

If that doesn't take off, I'm looking into employment options in the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. I'd hate to have to turn LEM into a part-time sideline, but mortgages have to be paid and groceries bought. (We won't shut down. Not ever.)

How Can You Help?

There are any number of ways you can help our bottom line.

1. Buy through the companies that run ads on Low End Mac. This will let them know that LEM is a good source of customers.

2. Buy through the companies listed in our price trackers. Some of them advertise, and some are affiliates, which means that we get a small commission from any sales.

3. Boost site traffic through links on your blog or website. Share links on Facebook and/or Twitter. We earn just a fraction of a penny per page view, but with over a million pages served per month, that turns into real money.

4. If finances permit, send a gift of money to Low End Mac or use the Tip Jar to gift money directly to one of our columnists.

Thanks for being a fan of Low End Mac. We're here for the long haul and hoping the economy will take a turn for the better very soon.

Dan Knight, publisher, LowEndMac.com